Regarding keyboard shortcut optimization

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Midas
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Regarding keyboard shortcut optimization

#1 Post by Midas »

The topic has been discussed here at TPFC on various occasions, predictably in relation to specific apps (e.g. and chosen at random, look here, here, and here) but non-free CommandBar recently published a rather insightful blog post on the matter deserving mention here, IMHO...
So you want keyboard shortcuts in your app now. The single most important aspect in helping users achieve keyboard mastery with your software is coming up with a coherent, well-thought-out collection of shortcuts. We believe that many apps are lacking in this regard, so doing a good job can help differentiate your product.

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Andrew Lee
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Re: Regarding keyboard shortcut optimization

#2 Post by Andrew Lee »

Very insightful article indeed. I am particularly struck for these two points:
(A)dherence to Conventions

Your app’s users will already be familiar with a variety of keyboard shortcuts from their operating systems and other applications they are using. To put it bluntly, your users probably spend more time in other apps than in yours, and so use other shortcut combinations more than yours.

Therefore, they will have certain expectations regarding your app’s default shortcuts.
and:
A better approach is letting users customize their keyboard shortcuts. Instead of you fixing the problem for a particular layout or key, users across the globe can set any shortcut to whatever works on their end.
The former is probably a lot easier to achieve as long as the authors pay a little more attention to it, while the latter is more suited to larger, more complex apps where having customizable shortcuts would really be a bonus to power users.

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